Two sperm whales, dubbed Kiwi and Guava, were spotted seven miles off the Dana Point coast on Tuesday, Sept. 16, a rare sighting of the deep-water dwellers.

The sperm whales had been spotted off San Diego in recent weeks, first on Sept. 7 and again Sept. 14, before Capt. Brandon Erdo aboard a Dana Wharf Sportfishing & Whale Watching charter spotted them off Orange County.

Though Donna Kalez has operated for years the charter company her father founded in the 1960s, she had never seen a sperm whale, so she quickly jumped on a boat that was heading out to sea.

“It’s such a bucket-list item and a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she said. “It’s like a needle in a haystack, it’s so rare.”

Sperm whales can be tough to track, often staying down with long breath holds for 90 minutes.

They typ

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